Obama to Regulate CO2 Pollutant

 

After our class discussion on marketing Germany as a green country, the US joined efforts to curb climate change by issuing a report on the harmful effects of CO2.  Perhaps, Germany is not going alone in addressing global environmental issues. 

At the Environmental Summit in Copenhagen in 2008, the results were mixed.  Many environmental groups thought that the US and other Western nations were holding down progress.  The developing countries refused to make concrete changes until the developed countries amended their policies and reduced their carbon footprint.  At that time, the hope of seeing the US- the country with the largest carbon footprint- alter its policies was almost nonexistent.  It appeared as though the environmental situation would stand still until the US budged.

 

The BBC article "Obama to Regulate 'Pollutant' CO2" by Richard Blake summarizes the change in policy and its effects on the global environmental movement.  The leadership of Barack Obama allowed this report to go public and shows a newfound dedication to the environment.  Lisa Jackson of the EPA remarks that the report, "follows President Obama's call for a low-carbon economy and strong leadership in Congress on clean energy and climate legislation; and... the solution is one that will create millions of green jobs and end our country's dependence on foreign oil."

 

Now, the US has sent a message of respect for the world's environment.  Phyllis Cuttino, the Director of the US Global Warming Program at the Pew Center, has stated that,"This reclaims the US role on the international stage as a leader." The US indicates that it must amend national policies and streamline with the international community. Changes have to occur in its own backyard before expecting the world to make changes.  As the US regains a leadership position on the environmental front, I wonder if it will align with Germany to combat environmental issues.  If Germany wants a time to broadcast its strong stance on the environment, 

Obama on Venezuela and Cuba

President Obama is meeting with leaders from both North and South American countries at the Summit of the Americas this weekend, and one of the issues surrounding the summit is whether or not Obama will interact with Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. Obama has publicly stated that he will speak with Chavez should he initiate conversation, and Chavez wants to restore US-Venezuelan relations to the level that they were at under President Clinton (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/17/obama.chavez/index.html).

Similarly, Obama has cracked open our doors to Cuba since he began his presidency, allowing for more freedom of movement of both capital and of people between the US and Cuba. He lifted restrictions on Cuban-Americans that prevented them from sending money to relatives in Cuba, and he also removed restrictions on visiting their families back in Cuba. (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/17/us.cuba/index.html?iref=newssearch).

Are these steps in the right direction for Obama if he wants to make America look like a country that is much more willing to hash out its differences with other countries rather than shut its doors to them as its policy had for the past 8 years?

Cricket and Pakistan's PD debacle

Devastating news for Pakistan: today the International Cricket Council (ICC) stripped the country of its hosting rights for the 2011 Cricket World cup, citing security concerns. In particular, the ruling pointed to an attack last month which injured six visiting Sri Lankan players and killed seven Pakistanis. Pakistanis are not reacting well to the decision, arguing that with the tournament more than two years away, the decision was overly hasty, as there was still time to improve the security situation before teams and fans began arriving.

I'm no cricket fan, but as I understand it, the sport is a fixture of South Asian culture (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka) as well in the former British Empire more generally, making the World Cup a major international event. Most importantly, this passion for cricket and the pending World Cup gave Pakistan visibility on the world stage as something other than a state teetering on the brink of terrorist anarchy. With the World Cup gone, news from Pakistan will be that much more dominated by stories of violence and political upheaval.

For those of us who believe economic development is a critical part of fighting extremism, this story is part of a viscious cycle. Image is reality in a case like Pakistan's: the more people think the country is disfunctional, the more it actually becomes so. A world sporting tournament would have had the opposite effect: an injection of capital and positive attention, and a much needed respite from constant political pessimism. While I hardly expect cricket players to risk their safety for the sake of Pakistan's international image and self-esteem, I'm tempted to join Pakistanis in asking if it would have killed the ICC to wait a year or so before bailing on them.

Expanding Nation Branding to City Branding

Simon Anholt's Nation Branding Index has been tracking global attitudes of 50 countries with the goal to help governments, organizations and businesses understand, evaluate and ultimately build strong country images.

This year, the study gets a new feature. For the first time, the research will also evaluate the image of 50 key cities in 20 countries.

"By partnering with GfK, we are able to provide deeper analysis and offer more comprehensive city-to-city comparisons," says Simon Anholt. "The new study not only creates an opportunity to better understand a city's brand, but also provides a picture of where it stands against other key global destinations." (…)

Selected based on objective measures such as infrastructure, climate and population size as well as political, economic and cultural strengths, the cities included are listed below:

• Western Europe: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Geneva, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, The Hague, Vienna
• Central/Eastern Europe: Budapest, Istanbul, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw
• Asia Pacific: Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo
• North America: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver,
• Latin America: Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro
• Middle East/Africa: Cairo, Dubai, Jeddah, Johannesburg
  

Each city is rated by approximately 6,000 respondents worldwide across the following six dimensions:

• Presence: Knowledge of the city, perception of its global contribution to science, culture and governance, along with city "brand signatures".
• Place: The overall cleanliness of the environment, its climate and other aesthetic qualities.
• Pre-requisite: Affordable accommodations and quality standards of public amenities.
• People: General nature of the population, how they make visitors feel (i.e. safe, welcome, etc.), work ethic and cultural diversity and sophistication.
• Pulse: Ability to attract visitors and residents, availability of interesting events, food, fashion, arts, culture, sports, shopping and nightlife.
• Potential: Perception of the city as a good place to do business, go to school and/or work.

I think it is interesting to look at the differences between the country’s image and the respective city. As we touched upon in class discussion, sometimes the image of a city or a State within the country takes on a completely different direction as the overall country image. However, with regards to nation branding, I am skeptical on how the image of a single city can impact the image of a whole country. After all, a city is always embedded in the nation’s context.

For more information see Press Release: "GfK Roper and Anholt Partner to Offer More In-Depth City Brands Index(SM)"

North Korea's Public Diplomacy

Did you know that North Korea has a PD website? Because I didn’t until now. Many Western media have portrayed North Korea as a threat to the world (but who would blame them?), yet at the same time there is a website online http://www.korea-dpr.com/ displaying photos, videos, music clips and information (history, culture, and much more) about North Korea.

North Korea’s public diplomacy is managed by the Foundation of the Korean Friendship Association.

According to the webpage:

The Korean Friendship Association (KFA) was founded on November of the year 2000 with the purpose of building international ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It has members from 120 countries.

The KFA has full recognition from the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and is the world-wide leading organization of its supporters.

It has offices in DPR Korea, Spain, Norway and Thailand.

Objectives

The main objectives of the KFA are:

- Show the reality of the DPR Korea to the world

- Defend the independence and socialist construction in the DPR of Korea

- Learn from the culture and history of the Korean People

- Work for the peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula

And here are their activities:

- Public Expositions of the D.P.R.K. (pictures, books, music...)
- Conferences and meetings about the Korean history, society and other aspects.
- Information and consulting in diplomacy and business.
- Radio, T.V. and other media programs.
- Cultural Exchange with different countries.
- Link contact with associations/companies/individuals interested in North Korea.

Plus the website is available in many other languages besides the standard Spanish, French, and German, demonstrating their efforts to engage with a wider global audience.

It’s interesting to see the image that North Korea wants the world to see of them. Although I’m sure that the “reality of the DPRK to the world” is more like an illusion. This is become it is these “positive” images that North Korea want you to see. There are no other images from an outside source to prove that North Korea is like what the images on the websites portray. But I give North Korea credit for trying to improve its image. And if you get the chance listen to this song Raise your weapons to wave the Supreme commander or any of their other songs. You’ll be waving more than just your weapons high to North Korea’s public diplomacy!

JUDITH!!! JUDITH!!! JUDITH!!! - Who is Judith McHale?

Judith McHale shall sit atop the not so vast R Empire at the U.S. Department of State. I must link back to an earlier posting by our dear friend Mathias with some comments building upon the criticism launched by Marc Lynch, who quotes Al Kamen and the like.

First point here, PD is not entirely PR, but we've seen that there is some overlap here...and McHale did preside over Discovery Communications - I see some wildlife features connecting the U.S. to conservation in the making - and she is not in the same position as a Charlotte Beers in "selling a message." Shall we do a brief rundown between the two? Sure, Charlotte Beers comes into an administration with far different perspectives on the U.S. position in the world on top of starting work a little under a month after 9/11...with great contradictions in U.S. action in the world to overcome by the time she leaves office in March 2003, the 28th to be precise...can you think of anything particularly important that happened around this time that may have a huge impact on plan she may have had for U.S. PD? It's slipping my mind at the moment...must not have been too big an issue because Lynch and company cite her tenure as though it were gospel truth on how PR-types turn out in PD. Our German colleague from last night might beg to differ on this generalization of PR and PD.

Back to McHale, she comes into the position under a new administration that is abuzz with new energy. I shall let the pictures speak to the world that McHale has an opportunity to engage (yes, Beers' window is noticeably more narrow an opening than McHale's):

The View From Charlotte Beers' 7th Floor Office Window

The View from Judith McHale's 7th Floor Office Window

Sources: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/uk/features/article_1411370.php/In_photos_Britain_-_Protestors_Demonstrate_Against_President_Bush and http://community.livejournal.com/ontd_political/2465793.html

No doubt, this is still not an easy time to be in this position, but there is an opportunity for change that McHale could very well pull off. I'll cover that more in the second point to follow.

Second, she does serve in a number of capacities that would lead one to believe that she's not completely new to the practice of foreign policy/diplomatic endeavors. She was instrumental in developing Discovery Communication since the mid- to late-1980s and played a major role in launching their network to over 100 channels in 170 countries in 35 languages with over 1 billion subscribers as of 2006. Notably, she also initiated the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (the Ambassador of which is Dennis Haysbert from "The Unit" - and according to this clip, you don't want to mess with him or the other guys he so calmly discusses how to conduct an assassination with - who happen to work for him...so LEARN...but he's not quite Mr. T as you can clearly trust him to give you good advice on car insurance) that supplies free educational programming to more than half a million students in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. The GEF/Africa Growth Fund focuses on supplying capital to small- and medium-sized businesses that provide consumer goods and services in emerging Afrian markets. She also serves on the boards of Vital Voices, the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the National Democratic Institute, and she obviously knows how to reach out to the youth - only being halfway fecetious on this point - since she was in early on MTV Networks' international efforts as General Counsel. The cherry on top here is that she is a Foreign Service brat - a child of a Foreign Service Officer and lived abroad in apartheid South Africa and Britain growing up. More details come to you courtesy of the Paley Center for Media. She also partner with the BBC in launching BBC America while at Discovery Communication.

Comparatively, and we will cover these things in reverse, Charlotte Beers was not a Foreign Service brat, worked 100-hour weeks at strings of advertising and marketing firms where she focused on profit margins, market research, and employee morale. Nothing against her success in a tough industry, but a few things against the way she proceeded at the State Department. She could have better served the position by focusing her organizational skills on integration of PD into the Building and building on it institutional capacity, since she was seemingly successful doing things like this in the private sector. Rather, she focused on a campaign and linked herself inextricably to it...and went out the door with. Check out this PBS interview text and I invite your comments on the pros and cons of the Beers approach.

An interesting dynamic will stand upon reviewing the interaction between McHale and proposed A/S (Assistant Secretary) in R. Philip J. "P.J." Crowley. Most recently of the Center for American Progress, but having 28 years of experience as a spokesman for the U.S. government (3 while Special Assistant to the POTUS for National Security Affairs - as Senior Directo for Public Affairs at the NSC and 11 at the DOD, notably PDAS (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary - one notch below Assistant Secretary and one notch above Deputy Assistant Secretary) of Defense for Public Affairs. He is retired from the Air Force, served in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Provide Comfort (gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, doesn't it? I bet he had a hand in the name on this one). He worked with NATO in Kosovo briefly in 1999. Before joining the Center for American Progress, though, he was a national spokesman for the property/casualty insurance industry - now, I'm from about 1,300 miles outside the Beltway, but that seems like an awefully nice way of saying lobbyist. In any case, I think there will be an interest dynamic between the new media mogul superstar and her public affairs sidekick.

Two Point Summation:

First, we should be hesitant to heed any word from the likes of Marc Lynch when he launches a criticism that the words "war of ideas" were absent from a speech McHale espousing her spin on PD.

Second, these two women have proven themselves capable in professional capacities related to different portions of PD that we've discussed during this course. So, I say give love a chance and laissez les bontemps retournez et puis roulez encore, hopefully, because it is now even more likely that McHale will be there - let's just see if she has her taxes in order.

PD Pooch?

White House photo by Pete Souza, from the official White House Blog

Yes, the Obama family finally got a puppy. The much-anticipated dog Bo (or BoBama as John Stewart says) is a Portuguese Water Dog. The first family's choice was apparently a pleasant surprise for Portugal. "Obama's pick for first dog thrills Portugal," according to the headline of this AFP story. Will the increased interest in the breed create a better climate for Portuguese PD? How will the government of Portugal respond? How will the "first dog" fit into America's PD? So many questions for BoBama...